This is like a primer for people that know nothing about Scientology, its origins, practices or high profile cases. The more you know about it, the less interesting it gets because there's very little original discovery in the documentary.The beginning was very, very interesting. The first 48 minutes had me glued to the screen. It is a biography of LRH. The rest of it, if you're old enough or read enough, is all from the news.

This is a great documentary, especially if you are also currently watching Leah Remini's series on A&E. It goes a little bit more in depth about certain aspects, namely the celebrities. I wish there had been more from Mike Rinder but luckily we see him with Leah Remini. He's interesting and well-spoken, and has seen quite a bit more of the inside than others.

With Scientology as a documentary subject, you pretty much know what you're in for. Not like there's a lot of love outside of Hollywood for these people. This isn't going to be a love fest. Even still, "Going Clear" goes to some pretty shocking places. Abuses of its members, unscrupulous scare tactics, a hard-on for aggressive litigation; doesn't sound like much when you read that, but it's the frankness of the testimonies from former members that really make it frightening. This is beyond scathing.The movie's kinda silly when it's about L. Ron Hubbard and the iffy beginnings of the cult/religion/what-have-you, but once it gets to Tom Cruise's involvement in the organization, Scientology just becomes a dark and twisted snakepit of paranoia. David Miscavige, the head of the church, is a true-believer of the scariest kind - only, whether that's in the philosophies that Hubbard espoused or the thirst for tyrannical power is anyone's guess. No one wants to be on that guy's bad side.This is some sinister stuff, but also utterly fascinating. Not sure it's something I want to sit through again anytime soon, but it's highly watchable from start to finish.Definitely recommended.7/10Seriously, you have to wonder what kind of dirt they have on these Hollywood stars (Cruise, Travolta) to keep them towing the company line like they do.

Scientology is a controversial, albeit not overly well-known topic in today's society. Many people ask if it really is a religion, and different answers appear. However, one thing is for sure—it confuses people. However, this confusing nature makes it, in a way, appealing. This is because people are interested. They want answers to their questions. This is what Scientology preys on.Going Clear, a documentary by Alex Gibney, is not meant to be an exposé. Instead, it is meant to give insight on what Scientology is about in order to quench the aforementioned confusion. The movie begins with many voices describing their experiences with Scientology. The sheer amount of voices is overwhelming, and in my opinion, really gives background to how many people were into Scientology. Throughout the course of the movie, many people give their insight on the topics of Scientology, and their relationship to the self-proclaimed religion is also mentioned so that the viewer can connect to them. The documentary starts off by talking about L. Ron Hubbard, giving background context to his life. The details of his life were shocking to say the least. With an abusive relationship with his wife, as well as constant threatening, emotional manipulation, and lies, his background is destructive and honestly scary.Wanting income, he created a religion, or what some people consider to be a cult. He called this religion Scientology. In this religion, people believe that people are "asleep" and they need to "go clear" by awakening themselves. To awaken, they go through auditing sessions, which are meant to help clear their traumatic experiences so that nothing is left in their unconscious. However, the sessions cost increasingly much, and slowly force oneself to reveal secrets so that they can be "relieved" of them. However, as they keep on paying more and more to Scientology and go deeper and deeper inside the ranks, they learn more and more about "Lord Xenu" and some of the more sketchy parts of Scientology. However, they can not leave the religion due to the secrets they revealed during the auditing sessions. If they do leave Scientology, they are threatened with these secrets for fear of them being released. The movie encapsulates the mental trauma people have gone through because of Scientology in an unbiased and concise manner. Both horrifying and genius, this documentary has surpassed by expectations. By providing insight to Scientology in a manner that can only be described as mind-blowing, this documentary allowed me to see inside Scientology and left me awestruck. In conclusion, I would rate this film a strong 9/10. With very little room left for improvement and almost no cons, I would recommend this documentary to anyone wanting to learn more about Scientology.